The marketplace abounds with multiconductor connectors which are used, for example, to interconnect corresponding conductors of communication cables. These kinds of connectors are shown, for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,772,635 which issued on Nov. 13, 1973 in the names of D. R. Frey et al, 3,858,158 which issued on Dec. 31, 1974 in the names of R. W. Henn et al and 4,099,822 which issued on July 11, 1978 in the names of A. W. Carlisle et al.
Connectors of the type shown in the above-identified patents fulfill the interconnection needs in modern telephone central offices as well as in the field. One of those connectors includes an index strip along which a plurality of insulated conductors from a first cable are fanned out into separate, parallel conductor-receiving openings. A connector module having a plurality of spaced metallic contact elements which include opposed, bifurcated portions is mounted on the index strip to cause depending portions of the contact elements to electrically engage the conductors which are held in the index strip. Then the insulated conductors of a second cable which is to be spliced to the first are fanned out in conductor-receiving openings of the connector module such that they enter slots in the opposite ends of the contact elements and thereby become connected to corresponding conductors in the index strip.
Another need is that of providing a connector which may be used in an operation which is referred to as half-tapping. A cable which extends from customers' station equipment to central office equipment is cut and reconnected to other, generally more sophisticated central office equipment. Obviously, such an operation must be accomplished with minimum disruption to customer service.
In a first step of a half-tapping operation, a group of conductors of the cable are fanned out into the index strip of the above-identified splicing connector. The connector module is mounted on the index strip and conductors of a cable which is connected to the replacing equipment are moved into the openings of the module. Then a craftsperson severs the conductors on that side of the index strip from which they are routed to the equipment which is being replaced. The severing of the insulated conductors has generally been accomplished on an individual conductor basis by the craftsperson using pliers having cutting jaws. This is time consuming and tedious, particularly when one considers that the number of conductors in a cable may be in the thousands.
The task of severing the conductors in a half-tap operation may be simplified by using a hand tool which is adapted to be mounted slidably with respect to a portion of the connector and which includes a cutting element. With such an arrangement, the craftsperson need only mount the tool on the connector and then move it slidably therealong to sever the conductors.
This tool simplifies the worksteps, but there is a problem that relates to the manufacture of the tool. Generally, a tool such as that is molded from a plastic material with a metallic cutting blade being mounted within the plastic material to effect the cutting. The problem is to be able to position the blade prior to molding with sufficient accuracy so that when the tool is mounted on the connector and moved therealong, the blade will be aligned to sever the conductors without cutting into the plastic portions of the connector. Also, the exposure of the metallic blade along that surface of the tool which is adjacent a surface of the connector from which the conductors extend for cut off must be minimal. Otherwise, the relatively close spacing of the conductors, i.e. about 0.3 cm or even less, could result in a circuit path being established between adjacent conductors by way of the blade.
Since the exposure of the blade to one surface of the tool must be minimized, the molding of the tool with the blade being accurately positioned with respect to external surfaces of the tool is extremely costly by prior art methods. In the mold cavity, the blade could be supported by opposing core pins, which are conventional in the molding art, but steps would have to be taken to ensure against movement of the blade under the influence of the injected plastic.Also, the use of core pins requires the accurate positioning of the blade with respect to the axes of the core pins. Of no less concern is the presence of openings in the tool body which are occasioned by the withdrawal of the core pins and which undesirably provide access to the blade for electrical shorting.
The prior art does not appear to include a solution for this problem. A prior art tool which includes a cutting blade that is specified to be accurately positioned with respect to its plastic housing is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,610,399. For the reasons set forth hereinabove, it has been found that it is very difficult and expensive to make such a tool that indeed has the blade accurately positioned therein. There is a need for a tool which is capable of being mounted on a connector and moved relative thereto and which includes a blade that has been accurately assembled to the tool housing without undue expense.